Tag Archives: Internet of Things

Project led by R&D division of EDF, will explore low power, wide area (LPWA) wireless technologies to support safe and secure connections with potentially millions of sensors and other devices

Joint effort incorporating Nokia TestHub services is among the industry’s most comprehensive testing to date using IoT devices for industries

Represents key step in EDF’s move towards the use of IoT; highlights Nokia’s role as a key partner for the deployment of networks for industries

Nokia has been selected by French power utility EDF’s R&D unit to test the performance of LPWA wireless networking technologies – key emerging standards for Internet of Things (IoT) device connectivity – to support critical operations for industries. The two companies will engage in a comprehensive testing regime, among the first of its kind in the industry, exploring the capabilities of LPWA technologies to support real-world industrial applications. Nokia is EDF R&D’s exclusive partner for this effort.

EDF R&D will utilize Nokia TestHub Services in Nokia’s Device Testing Lab in France – which gives customers access to state-of-the-art, carrier-grade wireless infrastructure – when testing IoT/M2M objects, chipsets, modules and user devices across all wireless technologies and frequencies. This enables devices to be tested on real network infrastructure rather than a simulated network, which reduces guesswork in testing and analysis and minimizes risks in advance of widespread commercial introduction.

This agreement builds on Nokia’s strong track-record providing mission-critical networks toindustries, and highlights the company’s strong position in the emerging market for IoT connectivity. It also highlights the progress of Nokia’s strategy of expanding its customer base outside of the traditional telecommunications sphere, a key focus of the company’s diversification efforts.

Stéphane Tanguy, head of IT Systems, EDF R&D, said: “The Internet of Things offers tremendous opportunities for our group. Many use cases can be enabled by IOT technologies in various businesses from power generation to marketing. As the R&D engine of the EDF Group, it is our responsibility to characterize the objects, their connectivity, their integration into IoT platforms and the related end-to end cybersecurity properties. Among the connectivity solutions, it is essential that we understand the performance, the maturity and the adequacy of each technology for our different use cases by an objective and agnostic approach. The cellular IOT technologies (LTE-M and NB-IOT) are two major technologies that we have decided to test with Nokia, which provides us with a very interesting test environment and valuable expertise to carry out these evaluations.”

Matthieu Bourguignon, head of Global Enterprise and Public Sector, Europe, for Nokia, said: “The use of IoT devices in industrial networks is in its infancy, but given the expected huge numbers of devices that will be deployed in the future, it is critical that our customers can evaluate now the various technologies before making substantial investments. Nokia’s Device Testing Lab, staffed by some of the most experienced wireless networking experts in the industry, will make it much easier for EDF to evaluate the performance of LPWA against other emerging technologies and reduce the risk of future deployments.”

Researchers at The University of Manchester have devised graphene sensors embedded into RFIDs, which have the potential to revolutionise the Internet of Things (IoT).

By layering graphene-oxide (a derivative of graphene) over graphene to create a flexible heterostructure the team have developed humidity sensors for remote sensing with the ability to connect to any wireless network.

Graphene was the world’s first two-dimensional material isolated in 2004 at The University of Manchester, it is stronger than steel, lightweight, flexible and more conductive than copper.

Since then a whole family of other 2D materials have been discovered and continues to grow.

Using graphene and other 2D materials, scientists can layer these materials, similar to stacking bricks of Lego in a precisely chosen sequence known as van der Waals heterostructures to create high-performance structures tailored to a specific purpose.

As reported in Scientific Reports, the groundbreaking nature of this development is that such sensors can be printed layer-by-layer for scalable and mass production at very low cost. The device also requires no battery source as it harvests power from the receiver.

Sensors with a RFID enabler are at the heart of the IoT. This new development can provide various applications such as battery-free smart wireless monitoring for manufacturing processes that are sensitive to moisture, food safety, healthcare and nuclear waste.

The developed technique has the potential to simplify how the information is gathered through its wireless system, nor is it is limited to a particular wireless network and has the ability to be compatible with networks including WiFi and 5G.

Dr Zhirun Hu who led the work said: The excitement does not end with this new application here, but leads to the future possibilities of integrations of this technique with other 2D materials to open up a new horizon of wireless sensing applications.

Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics and coordinated the project, added: It is the first example of the printable technology where several 2D materials come together to create a functional device immediately suitable for industrial applications. The Internet of Things is the fast growing segment of technology, and I’m sure that 2D materials will play an important role there.

Advanced materials is one of The University of Manchester’s research beacons – examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Based on Ericsson Device Connection Platform, part of Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator, used by more than 25 operators and supports over 2,000 enterprise customers

China Telecom and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) have launched the China Telecom IoT Open Platform – a global connection management platform that will support China’s “One Belt One Road” strategy and accelerate the deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and services.

The China Telecom IoT Open Platform enables enterprises to deploy, control and scale the management of IoT devices through partnerships. With this platform, enterprise customers can integrate their business processes with the managed connectivity service offered by China Telecom to create highly reliable IoT solutions. China Telecom and its industry customers will use the platform to drive the digital transformation of industries in China and beyond.

Magnus Rahm, Head of Global Service Operations, Ericsson, says: “The IoT market is growing very rapidly and we aim to use our expertise in this area to help our customers capitalize on this opportunity. Together with China Telecom, we can play a key role in realizing the tremendous potential of the IoT by reinventing processes, creating new services, and capturing new revenue.”

The China Telecom IoT Open Platform is powered by Ericsson’s Device Connection Platform – a global, unified platform that is being used by multiple enterprise customers in various industries to manage IoT connection services worldwide. The platform offers enterprise customers reliable connectivity based on service-level agreements and a common, unified overview of devices and access networks.

Ericsson’s Device Connection Platform was launched in 2012 and now supports more than 25 operators and over 2,000 enterprise customers as part of Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator platform. Ericsson also collaborates with the Bridge Alliance and the Global M2M Association to realize the vision of a seamless customer experience with worldwide coverage and superior service quality for IoT applications.

Telit and OT-Morpho Partner for Opportunities in the New Era of Device Provisioning on a Global Scale for the Internet of Things

London, June 29, 2017 – Telit, a global enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT), together with OT-Morpho, a world leader in digital security & identification technologies, announced today that the companies are partnering together to solve the challenges facing the mass adoption of IoT via today’s traditional deployment methodology.

As the cellular Internet of Things market is maturing and evolving to deploy tailored IoT such as CAT-M and NB-IoT, the companies believe a different deployment approach will be required. The two companies are partnering to bring to market a next generation approach that will allow the digital distribution of mobile subscriptions on demand to IoT connectivity modules. The joint solution will enable global interoperability, reduced total cost of ownership for end-customers and improved time-to-market for enterprises and device makers looking to roll out large-scale IoT projects.

Together, Telit and OT-Morpho will leverage their combined technical expertise as well as their worldwide customer and carrier eco-systems to jumpstart the IoT narrowband cellular economy. The focus will be on streamlining the provisioning and subscription management process for next generation Cat-M and NB-IoT connectivity.

“We are excited to partner with OT-Morpho and collaborate on innovative ways to serve the needs of the IoT market. We believe our new approach will also offer significant advantages to MNO partners – including but not limited to – new market opportunities for services, minimal impact on existing business processes, cost savings on SIMs logistics while maintaining the highest level of security and are working with some early adopters to fully leverage these,” said Oozi Cats, CEO of Telit. “Following the recently announced Telit simWISE offering, this new solution will further target the coming wave of NB-IoT and Low Cat devices enabling a global IoT centric subscription management service, reduce total cost of ownership for end-customers and improve time-to-market for IoT developers.”

“OT-Morpho and Telit see the massive opportunity represented by the IoT market and believe that as key ecosystem players they have a vital role to fulfill in helping MNOs and enterprises roll out their IoT strategies. By streamlining subscription management and by bringing solutions that can enhance the security and integrity of connected devices, we are fulfilling critical industry needs in order for the IoT to reach its full potential,” said Didier Lamouche, CEO of OT-Morpho.

As Telit and OT-Morpho progress into their partnership, the companies plan to announce the details of their solution in the near future, which will enable a wide-scale adoption of cellular technology across billions of devices worldwide.

NB-IoT based smart parking solutions introduced in several German cities

Rapid NB-IoT network expansion in Germany and across Europe with nationwide rollout in the Netherlands already accomplished

Deutsche Telekom today offers its first NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) service packages in Germany as it rapidly expands the availability of the NB-IoT network across its footprint and sets the scene for its 2020 5G communications standard. The ready-for-sale NB-IoT service packages in Germany consist of two options: NB-IoT Access, a streamlined NB-IoT device connectivity package, as well as NB-IoT Access & Cloud of Things, a more comprehensive NB-IoT product connectivity package, which also includes Deutsche Telekom’s Cloud of Things platform.

The NB-IoT Access entry package is available from EUR 199 and includes a 6-month activation of up to 25 SIM-cards with 500 KB per SIM pooled in Germany’s NB-IoT network. As a further optional add-on – a private APN with IPsec-key encryption is available. The NB-IoT Access & Cloud of Things entry package is available from EUR 299 and additionally includes direct access to Deutsche Telekom’s Cloud of Things platform for device and data management. Both packages will enable customers to easily prototype their NB-IoT solutions and pilot them in their markets. A full NB-IoT service pricing is available on request.

“Deutsche Telekom believes that NarrowBand IoT is a radical Innovation in our market paving the road to digitization and our 5G services available from 2020,” says Hagen Rickmann, Head of Business Customer Segment, Telekom Deutschland. “NarrowBand IoT enables ambitious new business models, huge scale and a secure operating environment, which is exactly what our small and medium enterprise customers are looking for today as they increasingly move their business operations online.”

Smart parking solutions among the first NB-IoT services in Germany

In parallel to the European NB-IoT network rollout and commercial introduction in Germany, Deutsche Telekom already actively works with numerous customers and partners on the implementation of real-live solutions using the innovative technology. Smart parking is one such area: In Hamburg, a smart parking service is being introduced, which provides information about parking spaces to drivers in real time, digitizing up to 11,000 public and private spaces, including parking garages, with the support of Deutsche Telekom’s NB-IoT technology. Darmstadt, Duisburg, Dortmund, Merzig and Moers will also introduce smart parking solutions in their city centers, enabling citizens to book parking spaces even ahead of time for a worry-free visit. For the parking search in real-time, sensor data transmitted via NB-IoT is being evaluated in combination with information from parking payment machines and other data sources across town to generate reliable probability calculations.

The commercial introduction of new, standardized and cost-effective NB-IoT services comes on the heels of Deutsche Telekom’s NB-IoT network expansion across its markets. The nationwide rollout in The Netherlands has been finalized at the end of May, making it the first country worldwide to be completely covered by an NB-IoT network with services already being offered to selected customers. The rollout in Germany is progressing well, and other countries within Deutsche Telekom’s footprint, including Greece, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and Croatia are also preparing to introduce NB-IoT. In the US, T-Mobile plans to support NB-IoT from 2018 onwards.

The NB-IoT technology is hailed as the most robust answer to current customer demand for innovative Internet of Things solutions. Its key advantages are the low-cost factor due to low bandwidth demand, good in-building coverage, extremely long battery life of connected devices, as well as its usage of licensed spectrum and approved standardization by 3GPP. As digitization filters into just about all aspects of life, NB-IoT is designed for large-scale use and paves the road to 5G, Deutsche Telekom’s completely new network concept, which integrates fixed and mobile networks.

34 Bridge Alliance members can now access Gemalto On-Demand Connectivity for Industrial and Consumer IoT devices

Gemalto , the world leader in digital security, has been selected to supply its On-Demand Connectivity (ODC) solution for Bridge Alliance, a partnership of 34 leading mobile network operators (MNOs) in Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, representing over 800 million customers. Deployed by Gemalto, On-Demand Connectivity, when paired with embedded SIMs (eSIM), eliminates logistics challenges of provisioning online connectivity in different territories forInternet of Things (IoT) device makers and service providers.

Through the remote subscription management, users can easily connect to any Bridge Alliance Member Operator’s network, allowing them to immediately access the Internet with their devices, and manage their mobile subscriptions with ease. This solution is compatible with GSMA’s Embedded SIM M2M specifications for industrial IoT applications, and GSMA’s Embedded SIM specifications for consumer devices.

IoT is one of the fastest-growing markets today. Based on IHS Markit’s 2016 projections, there will be 20 billion connected devices in use in 2017. This installed base of IoT devices will continue to expand to 30 billion in 2020, and hit 75 billion in 2025*. There is also a market shift from highly specialized to cross-industry IoT devices. An example is the use of connected light bulbs, which can be implemented for different sectors.

“We are focused on providing customers with world-class, seamless connectivity services for both industrial and consumer IoT devices,” said Eileen Tan, Chief Executive Officer at Bridge Alliance. “Our partnership with Gemalto allows us to automate the provision of connectivity services over-the-air to meet the exacting demands of our customers.”

“IoT is the backbone of many emerging trends and technologies like Industry 4.0 and Big Data“, said Sashidhar Thothadri, Vice President of Sales South Asia & Japan at Gemalto. “As the interest grows, we are excited to deliver a truly flexible way to connect any IoT device – from connected cars to wearables and other industrial M2M applications – across a large geographical footprint, thanks to Bridge Alliance members’ networks”.

Telit, a global enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT), have announced a new integration agreement with Libelium, a leader in the design and manufacturing of wireless sensor network hardware. With this collaboration, users can now connect sensors to the cloud in 3 easy steps:

The Telit IoT Portal is a cloud-based IoT subscription service, powered by Telit’s deviceWISE IoT Platform. The Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) features a low cost pay-as-you-go service plan that lets you get started without any upfront investment. Telit’s do-it-yourself cloud service enables instant access to all the necessary tools and resources for all Telit Services, and lets you create and manage your own IoT solutions from a single, intuitive web interface.

“Our collaboration with Libelium is all about making it easier than ever for companies to implement an end-to-end IoT Solution,” said John Keever, CTO and founder of Telit IoT Platforms. “We accomplish this by combining Libelium’s Meshlium Gateway technology with the Telit IoT Portal, creating a powerful combination of technologies to reduce the risk, time-to-market, complexity and cost of deploying complete end-to-end IoT solutions.”

The Meshlium Gateways act as a central access point for Libelium’s portfolio of wireless network sensors which are useful for collecting data in any scenario, including smart parking, air and noise pollution, irrigation control, vineyard monitoring, and more. The Meshlium Gateway also boasts impressive smartphone, cellular, and hands-free mobile phone detection, useful for gaining business intelligence through the measurement of people and cars with the goal of enhancing user experience in shopping areas and roads.

“Our Waspmote IoT ecosystem is designed for interoperability, giving developers access to the widest range of sensors, communication protocols, and cloud systems to build IoT applications quickly and safely,” said Alicia Asín, CEO at Libelium. “Telit is a valuable partner of this ecosystem designed to create a truly end-to-end IoT integration experience for the market.”

As a part of this new collaboration, Telit and Libelium will be offering a fully integrated sensor-to-cloud solution on Libelium’s click-and-buy online store, the IoT Marketplace. This combination of Telit IoT services and Libelium gateways and sensor devices placed together in an easy-to-use integration kit simplifies the IoT implementation process for enterprises both large and small. The development kit is currently available for purchase in European, American, Australian, and Brazilian versions.

Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, is partnering with LTE chipmaker Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS) to revolutionize Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity with LTE-M technology. The companies are demonstrating at GSMA Mobility Live! in Atlanta, the first Cat M1 IoT solution, based on Sequans’ genuine Cat M1 chip, delivering the greatest level of network efficiency and simplicity achieved to date. The solution significantly improves power saving capabilities to extend the lifespan of IoT devices while boosting performance in indoor environments. It is ideal for low bandwidth IoT use cases including alarm systems, asset trackers, smart meters, smart city controllers, wearables and industrial sensors. New low-power, wide-area (LPWA) network technologies like LTE-M will give network operators the opportunity to generate significant revenues from the billions of connected things[1].

The LTE-M demonstration leverages a Gemalto wireless module that uses dedicated Cat M1 technology based on Sequans’ Monarch chip to enable a whole new level of low power, low bandwidth IoT connectivity. The module connects to Ericsson’s RBS6000 Multi-Standard base station updated with Cat M1 software. The solution is capable of supporting more than 10 LTE frequency bands from a single hardware device allowing for true global coverage. Dynamic power management technology enables more than 10 years of battery life for standard IoT devices. Samples of Gemalto’s forthcoming LTE Cat M1 wireless module are expected to ship in Q4 2016.

“Gemalto is the ideal partner to deliver evolving IoT-optimized LTE solutions enhanced by digital security expertise,” said Georges Karam, Sequans’ CEO. “Our successful Gemalto-Sequans partnership has led to major first to market LTE innovations that combine our respective key capabilities and offer customers distinct competitive advantages not available elsewhere.”

“Cat M1 will enable a wide range of new IoT applications to the benefit of Industry and Society at large. We are pleased to work with Sequans and Gemalto to foster the development of an early Cat M1 ecosystem to support, for example, a multi-function Vehicle Telematics application as enabled by this demo” said Thomas Norén, VP Business Unit Network Products, Ericsson.

“The potential of next generation LTE technology to expand the IoT market presents an enormous opportunity for low power, low bandwidth Cat M1 devices, as well as for applications best addressed by LTE Cat 1,” said Andreas Haegele, Senior Vice President M2M at Gemalto. “Together with Sequans, Gemalto is continuing to deliver first to market IoT connectivity solutions that drive the market forward.”

Telit, a global enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT), today announced commercial availability of the UE866-EU, an HSPA module banded for European and Asian markets. With its ultra-compact 15x25mm LGA footprint, the new module is ideal for IoT applications with stringent space constraints such as telematics OBDII dongles, health monitoring devices and connected wearables.

Leveraging a hardware and software platform design validated in more than eight million shipped modules, the UE866-EU dual-band HSPA module with fallback to GSM/GPRS provides system integrators with a proven, long-term deployment option for a wide range of IoT applications. The Telit IoT Portal-ready UE866-EU also enables solution providers to take direct advantage ofTelit IoT Connectivity and IoT Platform services designed for hassle-free device-to-cloud onboarding. Telit’s “design once and deploy globally” development philosophy makes it easy for customers to deploy devices anywhere in the world by simply selecting regional or technology variants from the same form factor family. The xE866 family includes broadly carrier certified and regional regulatory compliant 2G, 3G and LTE Cat 1 modules.

“The launch of this module is an important achievement for us. It is the result of significant R&D not only to fit the electronics but also to make the RF in the dual-band 3G and 2G modems perform to traditional Telit standards, in a module barely bigger than one of the keys on your laptop keyboard,” said Ronen Ben-Hamou, Telit Executive Vice President of Products and Solutions. “New technology and strategies we developed here will enable us to keep bringing extraordinary breakthroughs in module miniaturization as we reaffirm our commitment to innovation leadership in the IoT.”

The UE866-EU is a dual-mode, dual-band UMTS|HSPA, GSM|GPRS, 3GPP Release 7 compliant module. It supports 3G 900/2100MHz and 2G 900/1800MHz bands, delivering 7.2Mbps downlink and 5.76 uplink data rates. The new module supports application development inside module through the Telit AppZone application development environment, includes digital voice support and is ideal for new and upgrade designs, particularly for redesign projects aiming at reducing bill of material costs and/or device dimensions.

Actility, the industry leader in Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN), and Digita, the Finnish broadcast network operator, are teaming up to take the next step towards a fully-connected Finland by rolling out a LoRa network. Following the completion of a successful trial period of several months, the companies have seen that the market is ready for a full-scale commercial deployment. The service is available for local implementation everywhere in Finland from October 2016. Rollout for full area coverage starts from major cities. This is the first commercial LoRa network for IoT to be deployed in Finland. The deployment also emphasizes the opportunity that LoRa brings for companies like Digita, which is not a traditional cellular operator, to leverage the tall radio and television masts of their broadcast network to become key players in the internet of Things.

The LoRa network will enable services across a wide variety of domains, including smart cities, smart agriculture and logistics. Exploring the benefits for smart homes, during the trial period, Digita and partner VVO Group evaluated a solution using Actility’s platform, which monitored temperature and humidity in 200 of VVO Group’s properties in the city of Espoo. “Maintaining healthy living conditions is easy when the factors that affect residents’ comfort can be recognised in real time,” explains Kimmo Rintala, head of VVO Group’s property development unit. “Continuous measuring also enables us to detect obvious apartment-specific faults even before the residents themselves have time to react. Digita’s solution eliminates the need for property-specific installations, as it is based on sensors within apartments that are able to communicate directly with Digita’s system.”

The LoRa core network service is delivered through Actility’s ThingPark Wireless solution, a fully integrated platform for the Internet of Things. Making use of Digita’s broadcast masts means that the technology can be deployed at very high points overlooking the city and be exploited to its full range. 15 of Digita’s 38 main masts are over 300 meters high.

“Finland is an innovative country, with a real hunger for new technologies. The IoT provides fantastic new opportunities to create compelling services for citizens and government. The increased area that can be reached quickly by implementing LoRa technology on broadcast masts, ensures even better coverage and reduces the required number of gateways. With our partners at Digita, we expect to be able to beat the current LoRa range record of 15km,” declares Olivier Hersent, CTO of Actility.

“We believe that IoT technology will revolutionise our daily lives. It can be used, for example, to monitor building conditions, save energy, prevent water damage, prevent theft, locate objects, locate pets, optimize farming and monitor health. In theory, there is no limit to the kinds of applications that are possible,” explains Digita’s COO Markus Ala-Hautala.

About LoRaWAN™LoRaWAN is designed to connect low-cost, battery-operated sensors over long distances in harsh environments that were previously too challenging or cost prohibitive to connect. A LoRaWAN gateway deployed on a building or tower can connect to sensors more than 10km away or to water meters deployed underground or in basements. The LoRaWAN protocol offers unique and unequaled benefits in terms of bi-directionality, security, mobility and accurate localization that are not addressed by other LPWAN technologies. These benefits will enable the diverse use cases and business models that will enable deployments of large scale LPWAN IoT networks globally. (https://www.lora-alliance.org/)

About DigitaDigita broadcasts radio and TV programmes reliably to all of Finland, every day of the year. Applying cutting-edge digital technology, Digita develops and supplies versatile Internet TV and radio services along with services based on comprehensive network infrastructure. Digita’s main clients are media houses and mobile and broadband operators that provide the very best content.

About Actility & ThingPark™Actility is the industry leader in LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) large-scale infrastructure and the innovator behind the ThingPark IoT Solution platform. ThingPark is a carrier-grade IoT platform which enables service providers to accelerate their IoT strategy and go-to-market. ThingPark Wireless delivers long-range networks for low-power sensors and devices. ThingPark Mash-upprovides IoT protocol and data mediation services, enabling web applications to connect seamlessly with data from a vast range of different sensors. ThingPark Marketplace is at the heart of of an ecosystem of certified IoT devices, connectivity, and application partners. Actility is a founding member of the LoRa Alliance.. (http://www.thingpark.com/en)